Temporal organization of speech utterance: a c/d model perspective

Este artigo discute o modelo C/D na qualidade de quadro teórico lingüístico visando a descrever as características temporais de enunciados com referência à organização prosódica geral. Um trem de pulsos sílaba/fronteira, com magnitudes controladas, representa o esqueleto da função de base de um enunciado, determinando completamente sua organização métrica. Contornos vocálicos, tonais e demais contornos fonéticos representam a melodia da função de base. O padrão temporal de sílabas individuais é calculado pela distribuição de suas magnitudes, levando-se em consideração a intervenção de fronteiras com magnitudes controladas. A magnitude da sílaba é realizada como duração juntamente com outras propriedades fonéticas tais como um componente de abertura da mandíbula e forças incrementais de gestos vocálicos e consonantais. Além disso, a constituição de um padrão prosódico envolve um controle tonal independente. A fonologia lexical pode especificar características acentuais (magnitude da sílaba), tonais ou ambas, dependendo da língua, mas toda língua usa as duas características ao nível da frase. A natureza inerentemente dinâmica da fala é fundamental nesta nova abordagem

From communicative functions to prosodic forms

This is a proposal in favour of proceeding from communicative function to linguistic form, rather than the reverse, for an insightful account of how humans communicate by speech in languages. A functional framework is developed that encompasses argumentation structures, declarative and interrogative functions, and expressive intensification. Such a function orientation can become a powerful tool in comparative prosodic research across the world's languages. The potential of this approach is shown by comparing the prosodic form of Mandarin Chinese data collected in functionally contextualized scenarios with corresponding data from English and German

Eyebrow raising in dialogue: discourse structure, utterance function, and pitch accents

Some studies have suggested a relationship between eyebrow raising and different aspects of the verbal message, but our knowledge about this link is still very limited. If we could establish and characterise a relation between eyebrow raises and the linguistic signal we could better understand human multimodal communication behaviour. We could also improve the credibility and efficiency of computer animated conversational agents in multimodal communication systems.This thesis investigated eyebrow raising in a corpus of task-oriented English dialogues. Applying a standard dialogue coding scheme (Conversational Game Analysis, Carletta et al., 1997), eyebrow raises were studied in connection with discourse structure and utterance function. Supporting the prediction, more frequent and longer eyebrow raising occurred in the initial utterance of highlevel discourse segments than anywhere else in the dialogue (where 'high-level discourse segment' = transaction, and 'utterance' = move, following Carletta et al.). Additionally, eyebrow raises were more frequent in instructions than in requests for or acknowledgements of information. Instructions also had longer eyebrow raising than any other type of utterance. Contrary to the prediction, the start of a lower-level discourse segment (conversational game) did not have more eyebrow raising than any other position in the dialogue, and queries did not have more eyebrow raising than any other type of utterance.Eyebrow raises were also studied in relation to intonational events, namely pitch accents. Results showed evidence of alignment between the brow raise start and the start of a pitch accent. Most pitch accents were not associated with brow raising, but when brow raises occurred they tended to immediately precede a pitch accent on the speech signal. To investigate what could explain the alignment between the two events, pitch accents aligned with eyebrow raises were compared to all other pitch accents in terms of: phonological characteristics (primary vs. secondary pitch accents, and downstep-initial vs. non-initial pitch accents), information structure (given vs. new information in referring expressions, and the last quarter vs. earlier parts of the utterance length) and type of utterance in which they occurred (instruction vs. non-instruction). Those comparisons suggested that brow raises may be aligned more frequently with pitch accents in downstepinitial position and in instructions. No differences were found in terms of information structure or between primary/secondary accents.The results provide evidence of a link between eyebrow raising and spoken language. Eyebrow raises may signal the start of linguistic units such as discourse segments and some prosodic phenomena, they may be related to utterance function, and they are aligned with pitch accents. Possible linguistic functions are proposed, such as structuring and emphasising information in the verbal message

An exploration of the rhythm of Malay

In recent years there has been a surge of interest in speech rhythm. However we still lack a clear understanding of the nature of rhythm and rhythmic differences across languages. Various metrics have been proposed as means for measuring rhythm on the phonetic level and making typological comparisons between languages (Ramus et al, 1999; Grabe & Low, 2002; Dellwo, 2006) but the debate is ongoing on the extent to which these metrics capture the rhythmic basis of speech (Arvaniti, 2009; Fletcher, in press). Furthermore, cross linguistic studies of rhythm have covered a relatively small number of languages and research on previously unclassified languages is necessary to fully develop the typology of rhythm. This study examines the rhythmic features of Malay, for which, to date, relatively little work has been carried out on aspects rhythm and timing. The material for the analysis comprised 10 sentences produced by 20 speakers of standard Malay (10 males and 10 females). The recordings were first analysed using rhythm metrics proposed by Ramus et. al (1999) and Grabe & Low (2002). These metrics (∆C, %V, rPVI, nPVI) are based on durational measurements of vocalic and consonantal intervals. The results indicated that Malay clustered with other so-called syllable-timed languages like French and Spanish on the basis of all metrics. However, underlying the overall findings for these metrics there was a large degree of variability in values across speakers and sentences, with some speakers having values in the range typical of stressed-timed languages like English. Further analysis has been carried out in light of Fletcher’s (in press) argument that measurements based on duration do not wholly reflect speech rhythm as there are many other factors that can influence values of consonantal and vocalic intervals, and Arvaniti’s (2009) suggestion that other features of speech should also be considered in description of rhythm to discover what contributes to listeners’ perception of regularity. Spectrographic analysis of the Malay recordings brought to light two parameters that displayed consistency and regularity for all speakers and sentences: the duration of individual vowels and the duration of intervals between intensity minima. This poster presents the results of these investigations and points to connections between the features which seem to be consistently regulated in the timing of Malay connected speech and aspects of Malay phonology. The results are discussed in light of current debate on the descriptions of rhythm

Poetics of the [Selves]∞: An Active Aesthetic

This practitioner-based research reports on the development and assessment of a transdisciplinary pedagogical model for the learning sciences. The theoretical underpinnings of Poetics of the [Selves]∞ draw from three domains of knowledge: (1) mindfulness, (2) positive psychology, and (3) contemporary performance. The approach is designed to create positive self-transformation in participants as a result of engaging them in a sequence of activities that require different modes of reflection. The model was tested in two settings: a collaborative learning space, and a university classroom. The sample from the first workshop included individuals from the general public, and middle and high-school foreign language teachers comprised the second workshop. The data sources that underwent analysis included audio-visual documentation from each workshop. This qualitative study employed the principles and methods of Interactional Ethnography and critical discourse analysis to construct two telling cases of Poetics of the [Selves]∞. Analytic results from both workshops suggest that Poetics of the [Selves]∞ has the potential to enhance self-awareness and increase positive affect toward others. Moreover, the results of the second workshop showed its potential value in foreign language classrooms as it promoted authentic content connections, built rapport, and reinforced knowledge by activating different modes of learning in participants

Figuring Flesh in Creation : Merleau-Ponty in Conversation with Philosophical Theology

This work stages a conversation between the French phenomenological philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and philosophical theology, specifically as developed along an Augustinian trajectory. As the conversation unfolds, the outline of a new ontology is progressively sketched out – one that seeks to preserve the integrity of human beings as part of the natural world, as well as the integrity of the natural world in the presence of human existence. The search for this ontology involves three closely related questions and themes: (1) Philosophical anthropology – how can we understand ourselves to be deeply rooted in nature, while also significantly transcending our material infrastructures towards the uniquely human? (2) The question of meaning – where is meaning rooted and how does it evolve? And most importantly, how do human beings participate in bringing forth the meaning of the world? (3) Ontology proper – within what kind of ontological framework can questions about human existence in relation to the rest of nature, and the ongoing development of meaning-structures, be fruitfully pursued? In Part One, these questions and themes are pursued from a broadly Merleau-Pontian perspective, and also in dialogue with contemporary developments in theoretical biology and the philosophy of mind. In Part Two, it is argued that Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, culminating in the so-called ontology of flesh, can serve as an important dialogue partner for contemporary philosophical theology. Through a discussion of Merleau-Ponty’s critique of Christian theology, and of the alternative logic of creation in Augustine and Aquinas, philosophical-theological resources are identified for attempting to understand the enigma of human being in the world. In particular, the doctrine of creation ex nihilo is shown to have consequences that are directly relevant to a broader conversation about the place and role of human beings in the natural world. Through a sensitive reading of Augustine’s creational ontology alongside Merleau-Ponty’s ontology of flesh, new hermeneutical possibilities are opened up for constructive philosophical theology as it seeks to articulate an ontology which is in tune with its own most fundamental commitments, as well as with the phenomena

Pragmatics and Prosody

Most of the papers collected in this book resulted from presentations and discussions undertaken during the V Lablita Workshop that took place at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on August 23-25, 2011. The workshop was held in conjunction with the II Brazilian Seminar on Pragmatics and Prosody. The guiding themes for the joint event were illocution, modality, attitude, information patterning and speech annotation. Thus, all papers presented here are concerned with theoretical and methodological issues related to the study of speech. Among the papers in this volume, there are different theoretical orientations, which are mirrored through the methodological designs of studies pursued. However, all papers are based on the analysis of actual speech, be it from corpora or from experimental contexts trying to emulate natural speech. Prosody is the keyword that comes out from all the papers in this publication, which indicates the high standing of this category in relation to studies that are geared towards the understanding of major elements that are constitutive of the structuring of speech

Parallelism in Verbal Art and Performance

Peer reviewe

Paragraph Structure in Arabic and English Expository Discourse

Submitted to the Department of Linguistics and the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy